i wrote on this board about 3 years ago when we first rescued kuro. i am crying my eyes out as i write this...

at the time of his adoption, kuro was a stray, found in oshawa by animal services, rescued from a kill shelter by another shelter that was listed on petfinders and that was where we found him. he looked like he had had some rough times. skinny, very passive. and he loved us right away as we did him. he was our first dog. after several months, he started to show signs of dominance (growling at first) which escalated to snapping, showing teeth and eventually biting (me and my partner). we got a behaviorist in who was recommended by our vet. after several hundreds of dollars later, we were given some new skills. i read books, watched the dog whisperer, etc... in addition to this and things improved. no furniture, NILF, etc. after awhile, we rescued another dog named bella and it was quite wonderful. they seemed to keep each other company and often run together side by side when we take them off-leashing.

now here's the thing. we now have a 16 month old baby who is getting more and more mobile. kuro has gotten to growling again and i am scared to death. we are restricting the dogs certain rooms in the house and never allowing the baby and kuro even to be in the same space. tomorrow, we drop kuro off to a trainer for a week in his house. he is someone who has been highly recommended and i appreciate his holistic style. he wants to work with kuro by himself first and then bring us in. and frankly, a week without kuro in the house is a break i need just to gather my wits again. his assessment is that kuro is very dominant and the key seems to be my partner who kuro looks to in order to get the status and power that he does. my partner feels terrible. we both do. we both know that we have participated in creating a monster in kuro. and as much as we want to continue learning and trying to work with him, the stakes are so much higher now that we have a child and i want to make sure there are options in place if the training does not reassure us that we can provide a safe home for the whole family.

my question is: do you know of any places in TO we can get help for rehoming a dog that needs an owner with very strong leadership and knowledge of dogs? a dog who has a "history"? we want to be responsible and owe kuro the best decision we can possible make. we love him so much and this is all breaking our hearts. sorry this has been so long of a post. please no lectures. if you can help, i would love to hear from you.

smileah

January 30th, 2009, 01:27 PM

Ooooh, that must be so difficult.

I have had to rehome my beloved dog, and finding the perfect home is just an amazing feeling. Until then, it's totally sickening, isn't it? I truly feel for you. Don't be too hard on yourself though, please. You are taking the right steps, and you will all be happier in the end. Kuro needs certain things, as do you and the other members of your family.

I am no expert, nor am I from Toronto. But, I would suggest contacting dog trainers in your area. Let the know about your plight. Perhaps they will know of a suitable family, or be able to pass your info along. You could even contact doggie kennels and daycares. Word of mouth helps, and I think that most people in the dog business will understand what you are going through.

Good luck. :pawprint:

kuroguro

January 30th, 2009, 03:06 PM

Smileah, thanks so much for your words. It is terrible and it is so good to hear from someone else who went through it. The most important thing is finding the perfect, forever home for Kuro. When that happens, my heart will feel lighter.

Dekka

January 30th, 2009, 09:19 PM

If your dog is healthy and normal this is not a hard problem to fix. The JRTRO is one of the few rescues that will touch a dog with a bite history (but it has to be a JRT) I have had a few with serious bite histories, and snapping at children.

Personally I would stay way from 90% of what Mr Milan says as it is only likely to teach your dog the child is bad news. (NILF is great though!)

The issue with rescues taking dogs with 'histories' If you mean bite history.. most won't touch them with a 10 foot pole...to big a liability. Not disclosing the issues is just setting your dog up for failure and a potential law suit.

If you want you can PM me if you have questions or want to talk. I have a now 8 year old son who has grown up with our dogs and with the fosters. It can be done.